Corium_AZ
Well-known member
Ok, so I've had my RM100 for a couple of weeks now, so I figured I'd share my impression(s) since so many chimed in to help push me in the MTS direction.
The one I got (from GC, used, on-line) came with stock Clean, Plexi, and SL+ mods. It was loaded with 2xBugera (?,lol) 6L6's and 2xSovtek 5881's (odd pairing - prolly what they had lying around). I promptly re-biased (was way off).
The first time I got to play at volume was with my band. First thing I noticed was the heft on the low end. I suppose those heavy xformers are doing their job. The second thing I noticed was the oft-mentioned 'foggyness' of the RM100 - it was instantly apparent, and led to a big lack of 'cut'. My lead guitarist (I'm rhythm & vocals) runs both a vintage Marshall JMP, and a Plexi for his leads. Suffice to say, it's really loud, lol. However, I never had a problem cutting through with my H&K Switchblade. I chalked this up to a lack of presence.
In any case, I actually really like the stock Clean module - it sounds really nice and has a-lot of bassy heft, but never muddy. The stock Plexi is nice too, and works good as a mid-gainer or another clean. The Plexi does in-fact sound pretty close to the same as my lead guitarists real Plexi, in a side by side comparison. The SL+ sounded a bit noisy and grainy, but not bad. It was a passable heavy tone for my purposes - but lacks the growl of my H&K.
So, the next day, I ordered up a JF Foglifter, and picked up a used JF SL-OD100.
At the next band practice - boy what a difference! That foglifter solved my cutting through issue. Good thing, otherwise the RM100 would have been brought back to GC the next day, lol. The SL-OD100 sounds great, much better than the SL+. My only issue is the similarity of tone to my lead guitarists JMP, so there is some 'blending', if that makes any sense.
I also swapped in EL-34's (both TAD EL-34 B's and Tung-Sol EL-34 B's) to see if it changed things for the better, and found that the SL-OD100 then became somewhat noisy. That mod sounds much better with the 6L6's in there, IMO. We did the whole practice session with the EL-34's in there, and I think my 'blending' issue will disappear with the 6L6's, as it does change the tone enough to differentiate from the JMP.
So far I'm pretty happy with the switch to MTS. I'll be selling my H&K on eBay soon - though I really still like that amp as well. If I leave MTS, I'll likely return to H&K.
I also just picked up a used JF Mark X, and cant wait to test it out next weekend! On initially playing it at very low levels, it seemed to be lacking bass, but I'll wait to crank it before passing any judgement.
Sorry for the dissertation, but thanks for reading, lol!
The one I got (from GC, used, on-line) came with stock Clean, Plexi, and SL+ mods. It was loaded with 2xBugera (?,lol) 6L6's and 2xSovtek 5881's (odd pairing - prolly what they had lying around). I promptly re-biased (was way off).
The first time I got to play at volume was with my band. First thing I noticed was the heft on the low end. I suppose those heavy xformers are doing their job. The second thing I noticed was the oft-mentioned 'foggyness' of the RM100 - it was instantly apparent, and led to a big lack of 'cut'. My lead guitarist (I'm rhythm & vocals) runs both a vintage Marshall JMP, and a Plexi for his leads. Suffice to say, it's really loud, lol. However, I never had a problem cutting through with my H&K Switchblade. I chalked this up to a lack of presence.
In any case, I actually really like the stock Clean module - it sounds really nice and has a-lot of bassy heft, but never muddy. The stock Plexi is nice too, and works good as a mid-gainer or another clean. The Plexi does in-fact sound pretty close to the same as my lead guitarists real Plexi, in a side by side comparison. The SL+ sounded a bit noisy and grainy, but not bad. It was a passable heavy tone for my purposes - but lacks the growl of my H&K.
So, the next day, I ordered up a JF Foglifter, and picked up a used JF SL-OD100.
At the next band practice - boy what a difference! That foglifter solved my cutting through issue. Good thing, otherwise the RM100 would have been brought back to GC the next day, lol. The SL-OD100 sounds great, much better than the SL+. My only issue is the similarity of tone to my lead guitarists JMP, so there is some 'blending', if that makes any sense.
I also swapped in EL-34's (both TAD EL-34 B's and Tung-Sol EL-34 B's) to see if it changed things for the better, and found that the SL-OD100 then became somewhat noisy. That mod sounds much better with the 6L6's in there, IMO. We did the whole practice session with the EL-34's in there, and I think my 'blending' issue will disappear with the 6L6's, as it does change the tone enough to differentiate from the JMP.
So far I'm pretty happy with the switch to MTS. I'll be selling my H&K on eBay soon - though I really still like that amp as well. If I leave MTS, I'll likely return to H&K.
I also just picked up a used JF Mark X, and cant wait to test it out next weekend! On initially playing it at very low levels, it seemed to be lacking bass, but I'll wait to crank it before passing any judgement.
Sorry for the dissertation, but thanks for reading, lol!
